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Mark Olson

Assistant Professor of the Practice of Art, Art History & Visual Studies

Education

Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2009

Overview

Mark Olson is Assistant Professor of the Practice of Visual & Media Studies at Duke University. He teaches courses on media (new & old - theory, practice, & history) and medicine & visual culture. As a extension of his past work with the MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media & Learning Initiative, he collaborates on the development of a new interdisciplinary project that connects the study of the material culture of art history, architecture and archaeology with new media modes of representation and visualization. Olson is the former Director of New Media & Information Technologies for HASTAC (Humanties, Arts, Sciences & Technology Advanced Collaboratory) and the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary & International Studies.

The Nasher Museum has one of the most important collections of medieval art in an American university. These objects are mounted against the white walls of the Nasher Museum with short labels by way of identification. Yet how many of the visitors to the museum understand that these objects were once brightly painted, and once part of full-length figures that enriched the doorways and facades of medieval churches - that they were integrated into much larger decorative programs? The Lives of Things is a collaboration between Engineering and Art, Art History and Visual Studies. Computer scientists and engineers work with artists and art historians, using programming and graphical user interface design for artistic and historical contextualization with augmented reality and interactive capabilities. This eclectic blend of knowledges and capabilities brings new possibilities for interdisciplinary teamwork of broad impact and for horizontal knowledge transmission. Our goal is to use emerging technologies for developing a new model of the engaged museum that reaches out to involve the public of all ages in reconnecting works of art to their original context (e.g., chapels, church portals, or facades) through interactive and gaming displays. Our first installation is now part of the Nasher permanent collection. This is a collaboration with Dr. Tepper (engineering leader), Prof. Olson (art history leader) and Prof. Bruzelius.